There’s a huge amount of prestige that comes with being involved in MotoGP, and behind the scenes the lessons learned in tyre development go on to improve the rubber that can be purchased by mere mortals like me and you.
Michelin’s return to MotoGP was not without it’s problems, but rather than shy away from those issues the French manufacturer stuck it’s head above the parapet and faced them head on – including a very nasty looking tyre disintegration on Loris Baz’s Avintia Racing machine.
Recently, Michelin’s Motorsport Director Nicholas Goubert has been looking back on the tyre maker’s return to the helm of the world’s premier 2-wheel race series.
“I am very pleased with Michelin’s first season back in MotoGP following seven years away” says Goubert. “It has been a tremendous challenge and we have tackled it with great success. If we rewind the clock a year, our MotoGP comeback was very much a leap into the unknown, with new riders, new bikes and new tracks to discover and that’s before you even considered riding styles that had changed over the course of recent seasons and an electronic package that teams were still trying to get to grips with.
Every time we came upon a problem, we were able to modify our tyres in record time. Like when we needed to react quickly after Argentina and we produced a batch of new rear tyres in the space of just three days.
In actual fact, we engineered more developments over this single season in MotoGP than we did during seven-years of working in other motorcycle racing disciplines. We tested new rubber compounds and materials, designed new tyre profiles and produced new structures.”
This season has seen a record number of different race winners, 9 in total – and the new tyre choices have played their part in that, but the French firm are already looking ahead to next year and the on-going development work that entails.
“In Valencia, we offered the riders our prototype 2017 front tyres for the weekend and more than three-quarters of the field opted to use this new profile. This allowed us to confirm in the race that our development teams are progressing in the right direction. Lorenzo even set a new lap record in the Grand Prix and in qualifying posted the fastest lap ever completed around the Valencia Circuit. Last but not least, I must pay tribute to all the riders, teams, manufacturers and both IRTA and Dorna for collaborating so well and closely with us all season-long.”
Michelin will get the chance to evaluate their winter work during pre-season tests early next year, ahead of the season opener in Qatar – and we can’t wait to see the riders back in action for what promises to be another exciting season!
